Urban Decay Gwen Stefani palette review

Gwen Stefani’s collaboration with Urban Decay has been their most exciting launch this year for me. Naked Smoky was fantastic, but the Gwen x Urban Decay palette* has a whole new level of love attached to it.

I’m flagging up now that the palette is limited edition, but it still seems to be in stock on the Selfridges website, so if you like what you see, don’t wait too long before placing your order!

The palette features 15 eye shadows, 12 of which are brand new. Gwen was involved throughout the entire development process, so you’ll see a mix of her favourite Urban Decay shades alongside a range of new ones that she wished she’d always had in her collection. And all the new ones have been named after elements of her musical career and passion for beauty, giving it a really individual feel.

Full shade list:
Blonde (pale beige w/pink iridescent shift)
Bathwater (pale beige w/gold pearl)
Skimp (pale nude satin)
Steady (medium rose w/metallic gold shift)
Punk (reddish brown matte)
Baby (cool metallic rose)
Anaheim (light taupe-brown matte)
Stark (nude-pink matte)
Zone (medium brown matte)
Serious (smoky gray w/iridescent floating pearl)
Pop (pale coral w/iridescent sparkle)
Harajuku (metallic blue-pink w/iridescent micro-shimmer)
Danger (deep metallic royal blue w/blue micro-sparkle)
1987 (bright metallic yellow-gold)
Blackout (blackest black matte)

As you’d expect from Urban Decay, the formula of the shadows is second to none and each one is rich, velvety soft and blends like a dream on the lids. In terms of colour, it’s a really wearable shade range, focusing on nudes, golds and bronzes, with a few bright pops of colour thrown in for good measure. Harajuku is probably the only shade I’m unlikely to wear as pink tones tend to make me look like I’m hung over, but I’m loving Danger used for a bolder evening look, or smudged into the corners of the eyes for a wearable dash of colour in the day time.

These all come packaged in a sturdy gold and cream plastic case, which really stands out from any other Urban Decay palette I’ve seen. It’s a decent size, with each eye shadow pan being about the size of a 10p coin and at £40 I think this is great value for money.

If you’ve not been lured in by the new Vice 4 or Spectrum holiday palette due to the shade range, then I suspect this one will be right up your street. I’ve been using it non-stop since it arrived and have an awful feeling I might need to buy a backup  - it really is that good!

You can find the Gwen Stefani x Urban Decay palette online from Urban Decay, Debenhams and Selfridges, while stocks last.

*PR sample